Norah Jones gets a rap of being overtly mellow. And for the most part it is warranted. But a funny thing happened on the way to your mother’s record collection: she somehow becomes a favorite among rappers. She sang hooks for Outkast, Wyclef Jean, Talib Kweli, and Q-Tip and was named checked by Kanye West. While her fourth album The Fall doesn’t feature any hip hop beats, Jones has expanded her musical palette from her regular mellow jazz.
Although she may not have those rappers directly to thank for her new exploration on The Fall, but Jacquire King (Kings of Leon) who produced the disk which moves away from piano based tunes with more songs based around guitars and organs. Of course the one thing that has stayed constant is Norah Jones’ voice, still silky as ever even if there are guitars distortions accompanying it. And the new sound mix together well with her classic voice.
The tone is set nicely with the first song on The Fall (as well as the first single) Chasing Pirates with its marching organ chords. While It’s Gonna Be features organs so funky it sounds like they come from a Booker T. album. Then the closing number Man of the Hour manages to sound like old school soul and modern day Fiona Apple even though it is a song about choosing her dog when her only other suitors are a vegan and a pothead. And for those that want classic Norah, check out Back to Manhattan.
The best of the album includes Young Blood, a driving tune that seems to build up to something but you know Jones would never let the song break. But she lets the guitars let loose on Stuck which may be the closest Jones ever gets to a straight up rock song even though her vocals grounds the song. But despite her turn in musical styles; The Fall should still keep your mother’s content if you still need something to buy her for Christmas.
As a history buff, last year’s Expedition Week on the National Geographic Channel was thoroughly enjoyable. Last year relied heavily on Egyptian related programming which is lacking this year, but still plenty of watchable specials. Some of those have recently been uploaded to Hulu (presumable this year’s will also end up there at some point if you miss them). Here is a list of what you can expect with each program starting a 9:00 on the days listed below starting with tonight.
Monday: Expedition Great White Not the most interesting program of the week (but I tend to find the social scientists more interesting than the biological one) but it does feature an inexplicable cameo from Paul Walker (yes the dude from Fast and Furious) as one of the deckhands.
Tuesday: Hunt for the Samurai Subs History is fill with a lot of “What If’s (did you know Hitler won by one vote, what if one person decided to go the other way?). Here is one “What If” I never knew existed. During World War II, the Japanese had developed subs the length of a football field so advanced they could go around the world one and a half times without refueling or coming up for air and housed three fighter planes in air lock holders. The Japanese had planned to take them half way around the world to land a surprise attack on New York City and Washington DC. Luckily the US was able to capture them before they left the Pacific and then sank them to keep the Russians from developing the technology to build their own. Here, scientists try to locate those sunken subs.
Wednesday: The Ballard Gallipoli Expedition The guy who discovered The Titanic moves to the Mediterranean where Dr. Bob Ballard is looking for warships off the peninsula in Turkey where one of the most bloody and controversial battles of WWI took place.
Thursday: Mars: Making the New Earth Most expeditions are about uncovering the past, but here is a possible expedition that could take place in the future. It is a simple concept of if we are warming this planet without even trying, could we warm up Mars to the point it is habitable to humans? After watching this, it seems plausible. But the show leaves out one very important variable that isn’t even mentioned once: how exactly do we get to Mars? Check out a preview below:
Friday: The First Jesus Despite centuries of fighting, Islam, Christianity and Judaism all have the same roots. It is just Muslims consider Mohammed is a prophet, Christians believe Jesus Christ is the son of God, and the Jews believe neither. A newly discovered tablet may make things even more muddled as a newly discovered tablet may have discovered a new Messiah that predates Jesus by a few years. It just that one very important letter has become illegible over time and some scientist try to figure out what it was.
Saturday: When Crocs Ate Dinosaurs C’mon, with a title like that, do I really need to elaborate to get you to turn in? It’s about prehistoric crocodile who ate dinosaurs for dinner complete with CGI recreations.
Every November I make the Lyrics Quiz a little tricky and not give you the theme of the month. You have to guess the lyrics and then try to see what ties them together. Whoever does gets three extra bonus points and as always you need to put both artist and title in the comments section (along with the theme if you think you know it), or e-mail me, and if you are correct I will un-bold it and give you credit. The Lyrics Quiz is for entertainment purposes only so please do not use anything besides your own meandering mind to help you up with the answers. Now onto the quiz:
1. It’s too high to get over. too low to get under. You're stuck in the middle. And the pain is thunder. (Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' - Michael Jackson; guessed by Taylor Blue) 2. Use the body, now you want my soul. Ooh, forget about it, now say no go, yeah. (I Can't Go for That (No Can Do) - Hall and Oates; guessed by Rebekah) 3. Every time I hear how you never want to live a lie. How it’s gone too far and you don’t have to tell me why. 4. I give you all a boy could give you. Take my tears and that's not nearly all. (Tainted Love - Soft Cell; guessed by Rebekah) 5. A man in a silk suit hurries by, as he catches the poor old lady’s eyes. Just for fun he says, “Get a job.” (The Way it Is - Bruce Hornsby and the Range; guessed by Rebekah) 6. No one on the corner has swagger like us, hit me on my burner, prepay wireless. We pack and deliver in UPS trucks. (Paper Planes - M.I.A.; guessed by Doug) 7. Now Watergate does not bother me. Does your conscience bother you? Tell the truth. (Sweet Home Alabama - Lynard Skynard; guessed by Rebekah) 8. Put your pictureon my wall. It reminds me it is not so bad, it’s not so bad. (Thank You - Dido; guessed by Taylor Blue) 9. 38-24-37; you and me honey are a match made in heaven. (Bonita Applebum - A Tribe Called Quest; guessed by Doug) 10. There’s nothing wrong with me loving you. And giving yourself to me can never be wrong if the love is true. (Let's Get it On - Marvin Gaye; guessed by Rebekah) 11. John Brown always hated me, for what I do not know. (I Shot the Sheriff - Bob Marley; guessed by Rebekah) 12. No I’m not a sucker sitting in the House of Pain. And no I’m not the butler, I’ll cut you. (Check Yo Self - Ice Cube; guessed by Doug) 13. The first kick I took is when I hit the ground. End up like a dog that’s been beat too much. (Born in the U.S.A. - Bruce Springsteen; guessed by Doug) 14. When I had you to myself, I didn’t want you around. Those pretty faces always make you stand out in a crowd. (I Want You Back - The Jackson 5; guessed by Doug) 15. It wasn’t my intension to mislead you. It never should have been this way. What can I say? (Toy Soldiers - Martika; guessed by Rebekah) 16. Dissipation. Race Relations. Consolation. Segregation. Dispensation. Isolation. Exploitation. Mutilation. Mutations. Miscreation. Confirmation.......to the evils of the world. 17. You could have a Big Dipper. Going up and down, around the bends. You could have a bumper car bumping. This amusement never ends. (Sledgehammer - Peter Gabriel; guessed by Doug) 18. Sing with me, if it’s just for today. Maybe tomorrow, the good Lord will take you away. (Dream On - Aerosmith; guessed by Doug) 19. She gives me money when I’m in need. Yeah she’s a kind of friend indeed. (I Got a Woman - Ray Charles; guessed by Doug) 20. How does it feel to treat me like you do? When you place your hands upon and told me who you are. 21. Dear Daddy, I write you in spite of years of silence. You cleaned up, found Jesus. Things are good also I hear. (Say it Ain't So - Weezer; guessed by Doug) 22. See my old man’s got a problem, lives with the bottle, that’s the way it is. He says he body’s too old for working. His body’s too young to look like his. (Fast Car - Tracy Chapman; guessed by Taylor Blue) 23. If you say run, I’ll run with you. And if you say hide, we’ll hide. (Let's Dance - David Bowie; guessed by Rebekah) 24. Chewing on a piece of grass, walking down the road. Tell me, how long you gonna stay here, Joe? 25. Just like the white dove sings a song sounds like she’s singing… (Edge of Seventeen - Stevie Nicks; guessed by Rebekah)
(Scooter Update: I just realized I made an oops and #12 does not actually fit with the theme of this quiz directly. I fully regret this error. So here is a hint: four of the lyrics above (#6 being the first of them) should make the theme absurdly obvious. And the reason why #12 does not fit the theme is because it is backwards.)
Quote of the Week: What, like the first rule of Perv Club is no talking about Perv Club. (Ronnie - Mercy)
Song of the Week: Evil Woman – Electric Light Orchestra (as sung by Jeff, Community)
Big News of the Week: Hank and Eastwick: Dead and Dead: Not that I care. And neither of the show showed up the list of The Best New Shows of Fall 2009 that I released earlier this week. And some of the bloggers who took part in the survey posted their ballots. You can check them out on their sites:
Tool Academy: Much like last season, and pretty much any reality show that have eliminations, the finale just didn’t hold weight to the rest of the season. And I was surprised they didn’t offer up a wedding to the winners like they did last season. You can stream recent episodes over at vh1.com. You can also download Tool Academy on iTunes.
How I Met Your Mother: Finally the second most annoying coupling has come to an end (more on number one in a second). Barney is much better flying solo. If the show wants to get them back for the series finale, fine, but let’s keep Barney single until then. You can stream recent episodes over at cbs.com. You can also download How I Met Your Mother on iTunes.
The Big Bang Theory: I actually thought they might go two for two in breaking up couples that just don’t belong together with the friends crashing on Penny’s couch finally pushing that relationship over the edge. Hurph. You can download The Big Bang Theory on iTunes.
Castle: My favorite moment of the easily was when the NYPD, busted down the door of an elderly woman on oxygen. Highest of high comedy there especially when her cats started crawling over the boys. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Castle on iTunes. Also be sure to check out my chat with Stana Katic.
Sons of Anarchy: I wonder with Gemma telling Clay and Jax about her attack will actually bring the two together as they may ultimately disagree abou the plan of action for retaliation. And again, no update on Skinner or Tommy Two Fingers. Did they get out of the porn studio or not? It’s odd they lingered so long on Tommy Two Fingers and not give us a resolution or even a mention of if there were any bodies found. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Sons of Anarchy on iTunes.
Mercy: Second favorite moment of the month, when Erica Christensen stabbed her husband in the neck. It gave me Swimf@n flashbacks. They just do not make stalking swim team groupies like that anymore. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Mercy on iTunes.
Survivor: Samoa: Exile Island was the greatest twist in Survivor history. The hidden immunity idol should have been but after getting played during its inaugural introduction, I think fake immunity idols have been played more often than real ones. That all changed this season, when there was finally someone smart enough to assume there was one and looks for it before any clues, a group of people smart enough to smoke it out, and someone actually using it to save himself. And from the previews it looks like there are people smart enough to tail Russell to see if he somehow goes three for three. You can stream recent episodes over at cbs.com.
Community: How disappointing that we didn’t get to see a werewolf. And Annie really needs to let her hair down more often. You can stream current episodes on Hulu. You can also download Community on iTunes.
Free Download of the Week: Fly Me Away - Annie Little: Amazon is taking a page out of Apple’s playbook by using a quirky pop song to haulk their products and you may have heard the song playing in the background of the new Kindle ad.
Deal of the Week: Up to 40% Off Blu-ray Hits (The Pirates of the Caribbean Trilogy, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Coyote Ugly)
Video of the Week: Grown Ups is technically about a thirty year reunion of a basketball team, but let’s face it, it is really a twenty year reunion of Saturday Night Live cast members (with Kevin James subbing for Chris Farley). Let’s just hope that the movie just feel like an extended SNL skit.
Next Week Pick of the Week: The Prisoner, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday at 8:00 on AMC: Sunday and Tuesday should be pretty easy to catch this mini-series as there is nothing else on although an already log jammed Monday will be more complicated with the Browns on Monday Night Football. Luckily AMC will be airing encore presentations, just none announced yet. And of course if you are interested in checking out the original, I am giving The Prisoner away on DVD and Blu Ray.
I have gotten a plethora of cool press releases have been flooding my inbox recently that you may find interesting. This post will include blurbs on Expedition Week, Crash, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, Mad Men, Community, Showtime premiere dates. (And of course don’t forget to enter to win The Prisoner on DVD or Blu-Ray.)
- The second annual Expedition Week is starting up on the National Geographic Channel. I will be going in depth on what to expect Monday, but a little heads up on the premiere Sunday at 9:00, Search for Amazon Head Shrinkers where Pierce Gibbons heads to the jungles of South America to find out if the only video of a head being shrunk is actually legit. For those wondering what your shrunken would look like (or a friend or enemy), head over to National Geographic.com and upload a photo.
- Tonight in another episode of Crash at 10:00 on Starz. Here is a preview:
- January Jones, who is hosting Saturday Night Live this week, is certainly moderately attractive but has for the most part flown under my radar. I even think 1960’s Betty Draper is much hotter than 21st century January. That all changed when Jimmy Fallon challenged Jones to a game of Beer Pong and she called him out for playing incorrectly and being a light weight for not filling his cup to the top. Color me officially smitten.
- For those of you with Showtime, the channel has a full slate of premieres coming early next year. January 25 sees the return of Secret Diary of a Call Girl, Tracy Ullman’s State of the Union, and new show LaLa Land. Then on March 22 the second seasons of Nurse Jackie and The United States of Tara. Lastly, The Tudors arrives April 11. Mark your calendars.
There have been a couple of videos that have caught my eye lately so I thought I’d give them some love since the death of Musical Television left a void for a forum on the art form. If you are interested in buying the video through iTunes, click the title link (where available). If you are interested in buying the song, look for a link in the analysis.
It hard not to think of the Monty Python skit from The Meaning of Life while watching the new Norah Jones video. And listening to song it sounds like hanging around with all the rappers he has latly has made her music slightly less boring.
It really too easy to take pot shots at actors who try to sing, but Leighton Meester’s attempt my go down in the annals of time with Joey Lawrence and Brian Austin Green as one of the worst. And I haven’t been this uncomfortable watching a music video since Fiona Apple’s Criminal.
How do you follow up a song with the best title of the year (I Like You So Much Better When You’re Naked)? Well you can’t. But Ida Maria recruiting Iggy Pop for a video is decent enough.
Being Veteran's Day today, here is a song for all the soldiers, past and present out there. Thank you for your service and for the current ones, come home safely.
Remember in Ghostbusters when Dan Aykroyd sees Slimmer for the first time and just stands there with a cigarette barely dangling from his mouth? That was basically the same expression I had when I saw Carrie Underwood’s latest music video for Cowboy Casanova (except substitute a pretzel stick for the cigarette). Yeah, Underwood wouldn’t be winning any karaoke contests that took place on the radio, which is not to say she cannot put together a listenable song or two and Cowboy Casanova stands out as her best to date.
That may be thanks to Mike Elizondo, best known for his bass work with Dr. Dre, who engineered a song that gave Underwood some edge for the first time yet still manages to sound country while doing so. That even includes Before He Cheats because even with its anti-boy lyrics, you doubt the person singing it is capable of jaywalking let alone felonious destruction of property. But when Carrie says in Cowboy Casanova, “You better run for your life,” you lace up your Adidas and do your best Usain Bolt impression.
That song starts of Underwood’s third album Play On and the strong songs continues with Quitter, a whimsical banjo ode to finding that special person that makes you want to work at the relationship than your usually bailing after getting bored. On the flipside is When I Stop Loving You, a quintessential heartbreak country song and Underwood’s best ballad yet.
Unfortunately the rest of Play On doesn’t stand up to those three previously mentioned songs as Carrie is content on resting on her laurels and just recycle previous song on the remaining tracks. Change might as well be called So Small 2009. Temporary Home manages to be even more smaulzier than Jesus Take the Wheel. Songs Like This (as in “If it wasn’t for guys like you, there wouldn’t be…”) is just an extension of Before He Cheats. While Undo It (albeit the best of the rest) just repeats the lyrics, music and tone of Flat on the Floor with the exception of turning the title into eight syllables and manages two out of the word “lack.”
From her first album I thought Carrie Underwood had a great album in her. It is just she has continued to repeat her successes on her two follow ups. She may have been better off handing the reigns off to Mike Elizondo for the whole album instead of just the one song. Hopefully that kind of shake up happens for the fourth album, because her current shtick is starting to wear thin after three.
Every year in August and September we are bombarded by best new shows of the fall list which can be daunting. Add to that those list are typically only based on one episode of which the second one typically isn’t filmed until months later. That is why every November a corral up a cabal of television bloggers to see what live up to the hype and what what was a big a let down as the new Weezer album (*cough* Flash Forward *couch*). Then I throw in their ballots into my patent pending algorithm which so advanced that Sarah Palin accused it of being Communism. Here are the results and places to catch up if you missed the shows:
In a measure of full disclosure, here is my ballot:
1. Modern Family – ABC 2. Mercy – NBC 3. Community – NBC 4. Trauma – NBC 5. Rescue Ink Unleashed – National Geographic Channel
And in one last television tidbit, let me remind you that you still have until Sunday to enter in The Prisoner Contest where I am giving away one DVD and one Blu-Ray set of the classic series.
Greek: I can understand not letting Beth perform in Songfest (although I was allowed to be a ringer on my buddy’s frat intramural team a couple times)but why not let them use her dance? And how do they know if she choreographed it or not? A little silly plot point there. But the real competition for the episode was the showdown between Rusty and Dale with a soundtrack that sounded straight out of Over the Top. And I am certainly not very enthralled with the reintroduction of the Casey-Cappie-Rebecca-Evan love quadrangle that will most likely have to put up with for the rest of the season. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu.
The Big Bang Theory: I’m surprised that the guys could be surprised that Sheldon would know something. There is nothing I would be surprised by Sheldon knowing except how to act in social situation. You can download The Big Bang Theory on iTunes.
Castle: It was a little disappointing that they didn’t draw any comparisons to Sarah McLachlan whose song Possession was written about a stalker (who then sued her saying she stole lines from his letter to use in the song). You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Castle on iTunes. Also be sure to check out my chat with Stana Katic.
Sons of Anarchy: So what happened to Skinner and the two fingered dude? The ending was left a little ambiguous to if either or both got out of the porn studio or not and neither was mentioned when Jax showed up the next day. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Sons of Anarchy on iTunes.
Modern Family: Hopefully everyone caught Claire wearing a “Claire and Present Danger” t-shirt. Presumably that wasn’t for the figure skating competition. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu.
Survivor: Samoa: It may be a JV Survivor move to just vote out the other tribe one by one and Varsity Survivor to start scheming right after the merge, but a member of the NCAA Survivor would instantly crush the other tribe coming out of the merge, crushing their spirits by taking out their leader. When you are up eight to four you cannot let the minority tribe choose who is getting voted out because not only are you giving them hope, you are also sending a message to you own tribe that they could get blindsided at any time. Seriously, half of the majority tribe’s named were brought up for potential elimination. On the bright side, as a viewer, this should make the stretch run pretty exciting. You can stream recent episodes over at cbs.com.
Community: Though the song may not be as catch as In the Moonlight from Dylan and the Rusty Zippers, I cannot help going around all day singing, “She’s a B, she’s a GDB.” You can stream current episodes on Hulu. You can also download Community on iTunes.
Big News of the Week: ’09 Elections: Well that was boring (on the bright side I can now become a gambling degenerate without leaving the state even though I voting against it). That is not that the news stations tried to make it into a bigger story. But it is hard to make to make any grand assumptions when the Republicans won only four percent of the governorships. Wake me up next year when a third of the Senators and the entire House is on the ballot.
Free Download of the Week: The Prisoner (iTunes): Do not forget I am giving away two copies of the original The Prisoner (one DVD, one Blu-Ray, click the banner at right to enter), and for those looking forward to the upcoming AMC version, iTunes has a nine minutes preview to download for free.
Video of the Week: Vaughn and Peirce are certainly no Dylan and the Rusty Zippers, but that hasn’t stopped them for making a music video for Gettin’ Rid of Britta.
Next Week Pick of the Week: Tool Academy, Sunday at 9:00 on VH1: With the group down to its final two tomorrow we find out who is the most reformed Tool. Either way, here is hoping for a reunion special because they tend to be the best episode of VH1 shows. As a prediction, I would put my money on the Tat-Tool.
I have gotten a plethora of cool press releases have been flooding my inbox recently that you may find interesting. This post will include blurbs on Saturday Night Live, Lopez Tonight, the Olympics, Losing It, Sanctuary, and Southland.
- It is not even Saturday yet when Taylor Swift is set to host Saturday Night Light (as well as performer) and she is already getting hit with Kanye West jokes. I’m putting the over/under for Kanye jokes Saturday at five. But anyways. Check out the promo below:
- Lopez Tonight debuts Monday and his friends like Eva Longoria and Katie Couric are wishing him luck:
- 98 days until the Olympics come to Vancouver and a heads up not to bother me when Curling is on. Here is a look at some of the big names from the last one talking about their experience:
- The Biggest Loser is getting its own spin off show, Losing It featuring Jillian Michaels. Head over to nbc.com to apply.
- All new Sanctuary tonight at 10:00 on SyFy. Here is a preview:
- And let me be the last to inform you that TNT has picked up Southland and will air the premiere episode starting Tuesday January 12 at 10:00. The seven episodes from the first season will run and then TNT will air the six unaired episodes from the second season after that.
Let me first off say that I think that the 2012 Doomsday scenario is just a campfire story created by the white man to make the Mayans seem like this ancient philosophers to make stories more interesting than they actually are (see Nostradamus). I expect December 21, 2012 to be as exciting as Y2K turned out to be. With that said, I am still fascinated with all the hullabaloo and undoubtedly see the John Cusack movie coming out soon.
As the story goes, the Mayan believe in a 5,200 year cycles where the flawed creation has to be destroyed for the world to be born again, the latest cycle set to end in three years. Before you put any weight in this folklore, the previous cycles featured human made of mud and wood. So keep that in mind when you are stocking up on end of the world supplies.
But still Princeton University scientist Adam Maloof to find in validity that the world as we know it or just another excuse to let Roland Emmerich blow up the world again for 2012: Countdown to Armageddon. Maloof travels to heart of the Mayian culture as well as South America and Europe if we would indeed witness a catastrophe that would affect every single person on Earth.
One particularly fighting theory is a polar shift where within hours New York City would be under arctic ice caps while Alaska will be split by the equator. You will have to tune into 2012 this Sunday at 8:00 on the National Geographic Channel to see if Maloof can disprove this theory or if you should start looking for land to buy in Alaska. Before then, check out this clip below:
(Scooter's Note: This contest has ended. Congratulations to Nick from Illinois and Nikki from Florida for winning the Blu-Ray and DVD respectively.)
Coming later this month to AMC (you may now it better as that channel that airs Mad Men) is the six part miniseries of The Prisoner staring James Caviezel (Jesus) and Ian McKellen (Gandalf). The series is remake, and if you have never heard of it before is because it was probably aired before you were born (1967) and in Britain. Fret not young Americans that are predated by the show, it was recently released in the States on DVD and Blu Ray and I am giving away one of each. And even if you are not a fan of oldies television, with Christmas around the corner, maybe there is someone on your list that is.
To enter the contest, send me an e-mail me, ScooterKSU(at)aol(dot)com (subject: The Prisoner), and tell me what television show you would like to be see remade next. Also be sure to let me know if want the DVD or Blu-Ray version. The contest ends Sunday, November 15 at 8:00 PM EST (which just so happens to be when the new version premieres on AMC). The winners will be picked at random from all eligible entries and will be contacted shortly after. Also this contest is only open to people with shipping addresses in the United States.
If anyone wants a bonus entry, link to this contest on their blog or twitter account or link it on a message board. If you do all three, you can get up four entries into the contest. If you do this, the link must be posted by Thursday November 19. And make sure you e-mail and let know you have done so.
Some information on the box sets, both DVD and Blu-Ray include all seventeen complete episodes, the rare, alternative edit of the episode “The Chimes of Big Ben,” original broadcast trailers and much more. The DVD is presented over ten disks, fully restored and remastered. While the Blu-ray includes newly remixed 5.1 surround sound for every episode (in addition to the original mono tracks) along with over three hours of bonus features. Head over to shop.history.com for more information on the release.
Listening to their debut a lot recently, it is easy to see why Weezer’s latest album Raditude falls flat, and it is not just the silly title (almost as silly are some of the song titles I’m Your Daddy and The Girl Got Hot). With all its geek tendencies the original Weezer just rocked with shredworthy licks throughout every song while most of Raditude, the guitars are just blended into an overproduced wall of sound. Their first album was chalk full of songs that were sing-a-long-worthy even after one listen, whereas on the latest Rivers Cuomo’s voice is also victim of the overproduction and just fades into the music.
As embarrassing as some of the song titles are, there are some songs on the disks that are even more cringeworthy. The Polow da Don produced (yes you read that right) Can’t Stop Partying featuring Lil’ Wayne (“It’s Weezer and it’s Weezy, it’s upside-down MTV,” seriously) sounds like a darker version of Beverly Hills after Cuomo got accepted by the culture. Hearing Cuomo talking about homies a decade and a half ago was quirky; hearing the forty year old version do so on Let it All Hang Out is just corny. Then there is Indian influenced Love Is the Answer which is just too tree hugging hippieish for a Weezer song. I don’t know if they were trying to make a U2 song, but whatever the case, it fails miserably.
There are some sparkles of hope on the disk; Put Me Back Together is classic Weezer, from the love gone wrong lyrics to the guitar feedback that ends the track. Trippin’ Down the Freeway bounces along in typical Weezer fashion with Rivers sounding like Billy Joe Armstrong of Green Day at certain points of the song. And first single (If You’re Wondering if I Want You To) I Want You To may be the greatest Cheap Trick song they never wrote. But that isn’t enough to save a lackluster album.
There have been a couple of videos that have caught my eye lately so I thought I’d give them some love since the death of Musical Television left a void for a forum on the art form. If you are interested in buying the video through iTunes, click the title link (where available). If you are interested in buying the song, look for a link in the analysis.
Coming off their induction into the Scooter Hall of Fame, Weezer has a new album out tomorrow which means we get another thoughly entertaining video from the band. And the Weezerville theme certainly doesn’t disappoint thanks in part to the moderately attractive Odette Yustman.
Alicia Keys is pulling doubles duties with her first single off her upcoming album and providing the hook for Jay-Z who definitely has the better video of the two. But if Jay goes back to the black and white video, it should have been for a song on par with 99 Problems, one of his best ever.
After suffering through three years of grunge, fun started to creep back into rock in 1994. Beck made everyone who didn’t select Spanish as their foreign language requirement regret it, the Beastie Boys picked up their guitars (and ill fitting wigs) to Sabotage us. Then there was Weezer who were one of the few rock bands that didn’t mind choosing glasses over contacts. Hey, it even gave then a good idea for a song considering the glasses made them reminiscent of the last famous male rocker who wore them, Buddy Holly.
Sure the band sang about Dungeons and Dragons and twelve sided dice, but don’t lump them in with other nerd rock of the nineties like Barenaked Ladies. What set them apart was their love for hard rock (Rivers Cuomo even calls Kiss his favorite band during In the Garage). Sure there are quirky songs (Buddy Holly), bizarre songs (Undone – The Sweater Song), and the depressing sort (Say it Ain’t So) but in every song the band makes sure there is at least one shredworthy solo with crushing guitars throughout most of the songs.
All the while each and every song is power pop heaven with required sing-a-long lyrics no matter if they are upbeat (No One Else) or not (The World Has Turned and Left Me Here). “I made love to your memory one thousand times in my head,” a lyric from the latter, made the former teenager hit repeat multiple times. But it is those singles that will stand the test time.
Even at the height of alt-rock, you are not to find much bigger hits more odd then Undone –The Sweater Song with its two word per line verses with background voice splitting them up and its spastic ending. Not that it matter because when it came to the chorus, it all became who could shout it the loudest. Buddy Holly instantly because one of the greatest video of all time thanks to its Happy Days infusion. And for whenever your parents kept you up fighting, all you had to do was to slip on your headphones and let Say it Ain’t So (which was inexplicably was flipped recently by Asher Roth for his ode to college) and down them out. Which is why the original Weezer album is this month’s induction into the Scooter Hall of Fame.
doesn’t feature any hip hop beats, Jones has expanded her musical palette from her regular mellow jazz.
![Terror Alert Level: High [ORANGE]](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhebDZ0qqwOVKMZj7oFSUe8Hm3ax54U9Hp1fThJPgiddTyzcdwx_5SV6E3b7hkKyxbaDiym4COmUXT2YJnsKCUjBHI_a2xZtNoY7qFQRslP5AGO5gLkJwn2ZbO0wIF80ycbKrgPPA/s400/small_high.png)
on my Terror Alert Scale.
flashbacks. They just do not make stalking swim team groupies like that anymore. You can stream recent episodes on 
: Amazon is taking a page out of Apple’s playbook by using a quirky pop song to haulk their products and you may have heard the song playing in the background of the new Kindle ad.
(The Pirates of the Caribbean Trilogy, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Coyote Ugly)
while watching the new 
when Dan Aykroyd sees Slimmer for the first time and just stands there with a cigarette barely dangling from his mouth? That was basically the same expression I had when I saw ![Terror Alert Level: Elevated [YELLOW]](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6-iVFV0hXCTSYP16K_V0Rrxp3GqFrtBIJKeTUyQ2LpxZQ9XKHFj6QGtqqa7oxhLadLV8vUj8R84AftD8IKUSfN0u_u0CYDtJwhrpCPN2DBWquAIDv0jbVlhZL0mDFKlPKluGyxw/s400/small_elevated.png)
on my 
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![Terror Alert Level: Guarded [BLUE]](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzCbHfExiuXqojow1zxkBUX6j-9BHg9IyrfzqR77jnja2Xq6dbv-7iiqMFzp_UKXGcUF9FyAHqCkNxa5uitXa5Xu2Q1OboN9-TLjsaeI1a2eoGLORU4vkTQ54l1C-_cZyn81QHyQ/s400/small_guarded.png)
on my 
